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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Welcome Back to Wellness Wednesday

Well, here we are again. I know I’ve said it before, but I honestly have got to find the strength of will to rededicate myself to losing weight and getting healthier.

A few years back, when I found that sort of determination, it was all started because of a particularly bad photograph. When I look back a few years from now (hopefully as a much smaller person), I will say it was a health scare that got me moving again. Not a huge health scare, mind you, but one that has gotten me to thinking.

Of course, I’ve known for a long time that I’m healthier overall as a lighter person. I mean, that’s not much of a secret, right? But when I ended up in the hospital for a few days last week, getting subjected to the poking and prodding and scanning, it really sort of hit home. You see, even after all the poking, prodding, and scanning, the experts still haven’t figured out a precise cause for the symptoms that sent me to the doctor in the first place, but all the things they thought it might have been (which have been ruled out after all the testing), and the inkling of an idea they have now that it still might be, all of those reasons are exacerbated by being overweight.

Again, that’s hardly a surprise, since it seems you can’t open up a list of causes for any illness from a common headache to cancer without finding obesity among the culprits, but some seem to be more causally related than others. But, whether the weight is a primary risk factor or one way down the list of possibilities, I’d just as soon try to eliminate the dangers all the way around.

Not that it will be easy. In addition to age and metabolism fighting me (believe me when I say that the old adage about losing weight after 50 is true), that oft-referenced motivation has really been eluding me lately. And, since being home from the hospital, I’ve really been taking it easy—not much physical activity and lots of sleep. Honestly, it’s just after 11pm as I write this, and I haven’t seen anything close to this hour of night for over a week! Going to bed earlier is probably a routine I should try to continue, but I feel like I lose out on some valuable hours that way. Anyway, the point is, while my head knows that I need to be putting in some physical effort at weight loss, my body has not been cooperating. If I’m feeling up to it, I’ll try to hit the gym this weekend for a low impact workout and start easing my way back into things.

But, whether it’s this weekend, or takes another week to get to feeling better, I know I’ve got to do it. I may not be a youngster anymore, but I think I’m still too young to be worrying about my end of days. There are still things I want to do, see, experience before I leave this earth behind, so I need to get my body in the shape to allow those things to happen. It’s really not just about weight, and it’s not about vanity at all; it’s about being healthy enough to live my life and enjoy it.